it s good to see you. i have conflicting feelings. on one hand, i m so pleased to see people are lining up and getting testing. testing is part of public health 101 strategy to containing this pandemic. on the other hand, i m very frustrated on behalf of some of these people to see there s such long waits. the biden administration is very committed to increasing testing capacity. i will say in new york city, every time i walk around the city, i see lots of covid testing centers. we need to invest a lot more. staffing, we need to make sure we have enough reagents. but people also remember, testing is just one part of the strategy. people also need to be wearing masks, especially indoors or in crowds, and they need to get vaccinated and get the boosters. that s what s really going to help us get out of this pandemic, craig. lindsey riser, new york, seeing a huge surge in new cases. the state broke its own record for most single-day cases for
masking. distancing as much as possible. but the testing, the masking, and for the children that are eligible, vaccination, those are the key, again, public health 101 strategies to keep the schools open. doctor, are we seeing this up tick in new cases in part because we are just testing a lot more than we were just a few weeks ago? because so many people want to travel for the holidays? is that part of the reason we re seeing this up tick? i think that s part of it, craig. but i generally do believe this particular variant, omicron, what we ve learned so far is that it s it s replicating faster than any other known variant. and it s more transmissible than any other previous variant. i think increase in number of cases is probably a reflection of more testing but i believe it really is a reflection of this particular variant. we need to take it seriously while the cases have been mild in south africa, we need to make sure we realize that most of
massive lines for testing. meanwhile broadway shows, sports games, schools nationwide being forced to shut down again. this morning, there was some good news. moderna announcing new data that shows its booster is effective against the omicron variant. very effective, according to moderna. carrie sanders is outside one of the busy covid testing sites in miami, florida. lindsey riser outside a school in new york city. and also with me is the medical director of covid isolation and quarantine sites for housing works in new york city. mr. sanders, i ll start with you there in florida. the line was pretty long this morning on the today show. it looks like it s still pretty long. now we have this up tick in americans trying to get those at-home covid tests ahead of the holiday. what are folks on the ground telling you? reporter: it s a confluence of events that really maybe some people thought we could have
those patients in south africa tend to be younger and they have a prior immunity that s not the case with the typical american. we need to take this seriously. no need for panic. but we need to be prudent. testing, masking, vaccinations and boosters. if you are vaccinated, if you are boosted, is it just fine for you to travel for the holidays, to hop on an airplane, hop on the train, or to get in your car to go see grandma and grandpa? you know, i m going to quote two of our federal national health experts. dr. collins says we re in a world of trouble the next month or two, and dr. fauci said this omicron is raging throughout the world. that said, they said it s possible to travel safely. i have travelled from new york to toronto to visit my family, but i got tested with a pcr test beforehand. i got tested while i was at home, and i m wearing a mask,
moments. if you are feeling a sense of pandemic deja vu, you re not alone. in the words of dr. fauci, covid cases are raging around the world. massive lines for testing are back. more and more pro sports and entertainment events are getting cancelled. but we did get a glimmer of hope this morning. moderna just announcing that its booster shot appears to provide protection against omicron. we ll have more on that in a few moments. also this morning, where do they go from here? democrats and the white house plotting next steps after senator joe manchin dealt a massive blow to the build back better plan. we ll break down the different paths being floated to try to salvage at least parts of it. also, what the west virginia senator just said about his decision and the last few minutes to a radio station in west virginia. we ll go there as well in a few